Millionaire playboy faces 150 years in jail

By Peter MitchellJanuary 12 2003
The Sun-Herald

US authorities hunting millionaire playboy Andrew Luster, who faces a jail term of up to 150 years for allegedly drugging and then videotaping young women while raping them, have not ruled out that the fugitive could have escaped to Australia.

The tale of the demise of the great-grandson and heir to cosmetics tycoon Max Factor is gripping America. The unfortunately named Luster had enjoyed a privileged life in the

exclusive Californian seaside community of Santa Barbara, his family fortune and hefty trust funds ensuring he rarely worked a day in his 39years.

He surfed during the day and at night trawled bars frequented by young female students from the nearby University of California.

Australia's pristine surfing beaches and the possibility he might have friends or contacts in Australia could have enticed Luster Down Under, Ventura County Sheriff's Department spokesman Eric Nishimoto said.");document.write("

advertisement

");
}
}
// -->

"He has contacts around the world because he has travelled around the world so we were expecting he might try to flee the US," Mr Nishimoto said.

"It's entirely possible he has gone to Australia. Being a keen surfer and traveller, we assume he has been to Australia and from what I know of surfers, they can't keep away from beaches forever."

Authorities are also pursuing leads that Luster escaped to Mexico or was hiding out in the US.

Luster vanished on January 3, midway through his trial in the Ventura Superior Court.

The muscular, 185-centimetre-tall Luster was on $US1 million ($1.73 million) bail and faced 87 criminal counts involving three women, including rape and sodomy of unconscious victims, drug possession, poisoning and sexual battery. But with the legal noose tightening and the prospect he might spend the rest of his life in a Californian jail, authorities believe he took advantage of relaxed bail conditions and cunningly devised a plan to flee.

Luster wore an electronic ankle bracelet which alerted authorities when he strayed more than 45 metres from his $US800,000 beachside home in the luxurious residential compound of Mussel Shoals, north of Los Angeles.

The lenient bail conditions, however, allowed Luster to roam virtually anywhere in Ventura County between 8am and 8pm. The last known contact occurred at 8.30am on January 3, when Luster informed probation officers he was leaving his residence. Authorities only raised the alarm when Luster's 8pm deadline expired and he had failed to return home - giving him 11 hours to escape Ventura County and, quite likely, the US.

"We have a good amount of leads," Mr Nishimoto said. "We're examining phone records, financial records and other pieces of information, and we involved the FBI from the start, knowing the search was going to be far-reaching. The FBI has very long arms." The FBI, he said, would issue warnings to authorities around the world, including Australia.

Luster's trial continued last week in his absence, with jurors forced to watch sex tapes allegedly made by the Max Factor heir.

In a video played to the court last week, Luster has sex with a woman, who appears to be unconscious, and he declares to the camera: "That's exactly what I like in my room. A passed-out beautiful girl." One of Luster's alleged victims, a 23-year-old university student, sat in the witness box last week and described how Luster met her at a popular Santa Barbara college bar, drugged her and raped her three times.

"He smiled and said, 'It's liquid ecstasy. Don't you like it?"' the university student testified.

The woman reported the July, 2000, incident to Ventura County police and a search of Luster's home later allegedly revealed sex tapes involving 10 to 15 victims. Vials of clear liquid, cocaine and 13 illegal firearms were also found.

One of the videos was titled "Shauna GHB-ing" and depicted a woman, who appeared to be unconscious, lying on a bed. On the tape Luster says: "This is what I dream about. A beautiful strawberry-blonde, passed out on my bed, waiting for me to do with her what I will." The 18 year old told police she had no memory of the incident.

Luster maintained he was innocent, saying

the alleged victims were willing participants in the sex movies, pretending to be asleep.